1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to medical instruments and intubating devices, and more particularly to an intubating attachment for coaxially combining existing intubating devices, such as endotracheal tubes (ETT), endotracheal tube exchangers, and fiber optic bundles of a flexible fiber optic bronchoscope together so as to provide a more easily employed operation of the aforementioned. The invention may include a hollow, thin-walled cylinder which removably receives and carries at least a portion of the aforementioned intubating devices within and/or connected to it, and may further include a handle or stabilizing feature that secures the aforementioned intubating devices together in a substantially coaxial fashion for improved ease of use by medical professionals.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Endotracheal intubation is a medical procedure which concerns placement of a tube in the trachea of a patient to facilitate breathing or to permit the controlled introduction of gasses through the tube by an anesthesiologist or other medical personnel. Endotracheal intubation is normally carried out after induction of anesthesia or in emergencies, and is usually accomplished without great difficulty under direct vision with a laryngoscope by the anesthesiologist. The laryngoscope is an instrument used to examine the larynx (the uppermost end of the trachea narrowed by two surrounding vocal cords and located below the root of the tongue).
With direct laryngoscopy, the patient's neck is flexed, the head is extended and the mouth is opened wide. A laryngoscope having a rigid straight blade (commonly known as a Miller-type blade), or a rigid curved blade (commonly known as a Macintosh-type blade) is placed along the right side of the tongue, and the tongue and soft tissues of the mouth are retracted anteriorly and inferiorly to enable the larynx to be seen directly through the mouth in a straight line, instead of the normal anatomic curve around the tongue from the mouth to the larynx. The endotracheal tube (and an endotracheal tube exchanger when indicated) is then placed directly into the trachea, along this direct line of vision. Flexible fiber optic bronchoscopy may also be employed, but faces difficulty in penetration through soft tissues in search of the larynx, because of its lack of stiffness, as well as obstruction of the field of view by soft tissues, secretions, or blood. Presently, oral intubation with a flexible fiber optic bronchoscope requires a special hollow airway which is fixed in shape. Once the fiber optic bronchoscope is passed beyond the tip and into the oropharynx in search of the larynx, it has no protection from secretions, and no support or retraction to allow it to easily pass through the soft tissues and into the larynx. The same problem exists for nasal flexible fiber optic intubation, as well as for malleable fiber optic intubating devices. More importantly, it is also impossible to use these instruments with just one hand. They cannot be manipulated independently from the rest of the device, nor can they pass alone into the trachea. Moreover, anesthesiologists typically may need to employ a number of the above described devices (e.g., a fiber optic bronchoscope, an ETT and an ETT exchanger) all at the same time. Given the necessary flexibility of some of these devices, and considering that each of the devices needs to be held with a single hand, the simultaneous deployment of all of the aforementioned is limited by the number of hands of anesthesiologist, who must often involve the hands of an assistant, which limits coordinating efforts during simultaneous insertion into delicate airways.